So what were you supposed to do in the event of a catastrophic emergency?

Well, wolves weren’t really catastrophic, but from Lucas’ perspective, they may as well be. They were the size of bears, after all, and if the loud banging outside was anything to go by, they wanted in. The only thing stopping them was the door, which quite frankly, he was surprised was holding them off. Maybe it was enchanted or something, since this was apparently the cabin of the illustrious Xandrious. Ha.

That name will never not be funny.

Hahaha.

Hehe.

Haaaa.

He was going to die, wasn’t he. No, not just die, he was going to be eaten alive by ravenous wolves. They would tear the meat off his bones, or wait, with mouths like that, they wouldn’t even have to care about the bones. Those wolves could probably snap him in half once they got their mouths on him.

That wasn’t fun to think about.

“No, no, I have magic now, remember?” Lucas tried talking himself up. “Yeah. [Ice Spear] sounds pretty good, yeah? Surely an [Ice Spear] can do some damage, right?”

No. This was his life he was talking about here, and his luck was at 0. There was no way an [Ice Spear] would do enough damage, even if the name sounded intimidating. Plus, these were probably like Frozen Ice Wolves or something, considering they were out in the middle of a blizzard, and--

The wolves didn’t even give him time to think, they kept pounding at the door, over and over again. Clearly they didn’t want him formulating a plan of any kind.

“I hate working under pressure!” Lucas screamed. “That’s what the employees are for!” What the hell was he even shouting at this point? His employees were probably having the time of their lives right now, what with their boss missing and all that. It was like a free vacation for them, if they so chose to ignore their solemn duty of burger flipping. They wouldn’t work at all if they didn’t have someone like him breathing down their neck.

...was that seriously going to be one of his last thoughts? Thinking about those lazy 19 year olds?

He had to do something, he refused to let his dying thoughts be complaining about his stupid employees. Maybe those potions would help? They were all in canteens, like the stuff on the desk was, so either canteens were the norm around here, or Xandrious had prepared this stuff before hand.

More aggressive knocking at the door. He didn’t have time to think about where the potions came from, why did he keep getting distracted at a time like this?

With nothing to lose, he immediately began to chug the [Potion of Enlightenment – Legendary]. It tasted like blue raspberry, but quite frankly, he didn’t have the time to enjoy and savor the flavor right now. Ipso Facto, there were numerous wolves trying to munch on his bones, and the stupid canteen looked like it was 32 oz, so there was a lot to drink. With every gulp, he felt a warmth rising in his stomach, similar to the warmth he felt when he ate that stone earlier.

The wolves kept pounding on the door, and he could swear he hear some of the wood starting to crack. Come on, drink faster! Tears welled in his eyes, and his throat really hurt as it protested the amount of liquids that it was being forced to deal with. When the last drop of the potion finally went down and settled in his stomach, a notification came up from the system.

[You’ve Been Enlightened! All Skills Will Now Evolve.

[Two Choices Are Available. [Ice Spears] and [Ice Lance].]

“[Ice Lance!]”

[Ice Spear has Evolved into [Ice Lance].]

The system then proceeded to give him notifications for his other skill upgrade paths, but the door was definitely on its last legs. Cracks were forming, splinters were flying out everywhere, and he could see the wolf’s body backing up and preparing for another body slam. The upgrades for the other skills could wait, he needed to act now.

He grabbed the health and mana potions off the desk, and ran to the basement. He slammed the basement door shut, and began preparing and [Ice Lance]. It was like second nature to him, as if he had known how to cast it his entire life. All he needed was enough mana, which he didn’t.

Of course he didn’t. Luck 0 and all that. Crap. Even worse, the spell didn’t form, and left him with 0 MP.

The sounds upstairs were getting worse. The wolves were snarling, clearly annoyed that it was taking this long to break into the cabin. The storm was still raging outside, and he could hear its merciless shrieking all the way down here. His body couldn’t stop shaking, and about the only thing that hasn’t gone wrong yet was that his pants were still dry and clean.

At least he didn’t fall into that cliché. Yet, anyway.

He grabbed the [Potion of Growth] and hoped it would give him stats. It sounded like a stat potion, at least, and if it wasn’t, he’d have all the time in the world to worry about it when he was dead.

This potion tasted like stale orange soda without the carbonation, and if he had been served this as a drink at a fast food joint, he would have demanded to speak to the manager. Alas, that was not the situation he was in. He heard the door upstairs give out with a loud snap, and he really hoped those wolves were stupid, and that they would waste time searching for him upstairs, in the room with no hiding spots.

A discomforting quiet set in while Lucas finished off the potion. Sure, he could still hear the wind outside, but the wolves were dead silent. He heard every gulp his throat made as he let the disgusting liquid run down his throat. He could hear his own heart beating, and it was beating faster than it had ever beaten before. Was that healthy?

Somehow, he was able to finish off the potion without the wolves knocking on this final door of his.

[10 Stat Points Available]

The system gave him the predicted effects. He wasted no time in putting them all into Intelligence.

[Lucas (?) – Human (?)

Level 20 Ice Mage

HP 53/55

MP 20/38

Strength - 10

Dexterity - 10

Vitality - 10

Perception - 0

Intelligence - 19

Wisdom - 1

Luck – 0]

Before he even tried casting [Ice Lance] again, he drank some of the mana potion. It burned his throat like vodka, and it tasted like dollar store head ache medicine. Suffice to say, he never wanted to drink something like this ever again. Every fiber in his very being wanted to reject this drink, but he forced it down. The only silver lining to this was that he only needed to drink about 4 oz before his MP felt topped off.

At a full 38 MP, he felt like he could pull off one [Ice Lance]. Welp. Maybe he’d get lucky, and they’d all be on the stairs.

Preparing to cast [Ice Lance] only took him 10 seconds, but did he even have 10 seconds to spare? He still couldn’t hear the wolves, and he was afraid that before he could finish forming the spell, they’d break down this last door, his last defense, and eat him alive. Also, where the hell was he supposed to form this thing? It was long enough to fill the room… he could make it smaller, but would that leave enough power? He sure hoped so, because it felt like it was the only choice he had here.

The first second went by without a hitch. As did the second through seventh.

In the eighth second, he heard a wolf snarling through the door.

In the ninth the wolf broke through the flimsy door.

In the tenth, the predator pounced on his prey.

“Die!” Lucas shouted as he launched the spell at the wolf.

[Mirage Wolf Slain!]

Good news: The [Ice Lance] tore right through it and killed it instantly. [Ice Lance] apparently had some serious power.

Bad news: Apparently he didn’t have enough MP to cast the spell in the first place, so it took some of his HP to make up for the difference. Right now, he was currently sitting at a dangerous 4 HP. Despite the lack of any injuries, his whole body hurt.

Even more bad news: The other wolves were nowhere to be seen. Were they still upstairs, waiting for their companion to return to them with his broken body?

Lucas fell into a sitting position on the floor. He didn’t have the strength to keep standing, and he felt like his legs were going to give out if he tried to force himself to stand. Stupidly, the HP potion was out of reach, but there was no way he’d be able to chug it all down before the other wolves came down anyway.

But they didn’t come. Surely they heard their companion get ripped to shreds, right? His body was…

No. Don’t describe it. Don’t acknowledge it. Just ignore it. Yes, it was in his hair, and some of it was dripping down his face, and there might even be a bit lodged into his ear, but don’t. Think. About. It.

For some reason, the other wolves didn’t come downstairs. Did they up and leave for no reason? Did he scare them off by killing this one? But they didn’t even see him kill this one, how did they know it was dead? Also, if he was being completely honest here, he looked like a terribly easy target right now. If he was a wolf, and saw a man who looked like he was about to piss himself collapsed on the floor, he’d just accept the free meal.

But none of them did.

Did he somehow survive? After all that?

He couldn’t help but laugh.

Hahaha.

Haaa.